Sheep Hunting Tips

bob dallsheepSheep hunting is one of the great privileges of hunting. Most people can’t afford a guided hunt or a fancy auction tag, and even if you draw a tag, you might be a senior citizen before you ever get that chance. However, if you are lucky enough to be able to live in Alaska for just one year, you can qualify as a resident and go sheep hunting every year. Dall sheep might not be your favorite of the four North American sheep but they are nothing to sneeze at. Here are ten tips for hunting sheep.

Take care of your feet. Buy the best boots you can afford and take plenty of blister treatment products, but mostly, when you feel a hot spot on your foot, don’t wait until it turns into a blister. Your feet are the most important part of your body on a sheep hunt.

Never walk up the center of a valley. It is rumored that sheep have 8-10 power zoom vision, so they can see you from miles away and walking down the center of a valley is like walking the red carpet at a bad sheep hunting movie premiere. Don’t do it unless you want every sheep on both sides of forever to see you as the predator that you are.

Look for single sheep. Old rams are known for being solitary and they usually don’t risk danger by hanging out with younger, less experienced rams that could give away their position. Look for a lone sheep; it might be a big boy.

Ignore previous rule when you see a group of ewes and lambs. There is many a sheep tale of a giant trophy ram hiding out in plain sight amongst large groups of ewes and rams. Don’t dismiss a band of ewes until you check every single one of them out.

Always get above rams when possible. Rams look down hillsides most of their lives and predators almost never approach them from above. That is what you want to do. They will never look for you unless you give them a reason to.

Always try to come down a hill the way you went up it. If you picked a route to climb to the top of any rough terrain, the chances are good that you picked the least steep and least dangerous route. So, trust your own judgment and go back that way.

Never give up. Most sheep hunters reach a point of where they want to quit. Don’t quit. If quitting totally makes sense to you and you can’t fight the temptation, stop and rest. Resting will give you time to think and hopefully you will think about why you are doing what you are doing and you will continue.

Don’t hurry. Finally, don’t get in a hurry to find sheep. Take a good vantage point and avoid running all over the steep stuff to look for sheep. Find a good vantage point and glass for a day or two before moving on. Wasting energy and boot leather is futile when you can use your brains instead. 

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